Leadership Toolkit

While working for a large construction company, one of my responsibilities was managing a large fleet of vehicles.  As part of our fleet operations we had a vehicle safety program, which mandated that each vehicle in the fleet be outfitted with a toolkit.  This kit had just about everything the driver would need to handle emergencies and to keep the vehicle running smoothly.  With this kit in the back of the vehicle, the driver could travel with complete confidence, knowing that if necessary they had  the tools and supplies necessary to help them get to their destination.

Just like the toolkit in our vehicles, every leader needs to possess the right tools  in their toolkit if they are going to succeed in their role as a leader and help their team arrive safely at its destination.  These essentials are critical to the formation of their philosophy and how they develop and lead people.  Below is a brief inventory list of what the leader needs to have in his/her toolkit:

A B I L I T Y

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment."

Baltasar Gracian

V I S I O N

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it."

William Arthur Ward

P O S I T I V E   A T T I T U D E

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."

Helen Keller

C H A R A C T E R

"Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking."

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

D E T E R M I N A T I O N

 “Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find a way.”

Abraham Lincoln

H O N E S T Y

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

Thomas Jefferson

H O P E

 “The men who build the future are those who know that greater things are yet to come, and that they themselves will help bring them about. Their minds are illuminated by the blazing sun of home. They never stop to doubt. They haven’t time.”

Melvin J. Evans

C O N F I D E N C E

 "The ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and ability."

Fred A. Manske, Jr.

O P P O R T U N I T Y

 “An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.”

Sir Winston Churchill

S T R E N G T H

 "We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more."

Madame Swetchine

After reading the above list, what other tools can you add to your toolkit?  Do you have any missing tools?